Wed, 29 Oct 2025 | BUSINESS SALE
Whitehead Monckton, a law firm based in Kent that has roots going back to the 18th century, has announced its transition to an Employee Ownership Trust (EOT). A majority of the company’s shares have been transferred to the Whitehead Monckton Employee Ownership Trust Limited, which will hold them on behalf of the firm's 121 staff.
The company has offices in Canterbury, Ramsgate, Tenterden, Maidstone and Canary Wharf and was created in 1968 through the amalgamation of two existing law firms based in Kent. Whitehead, Thomas & Urmston was founded in around 1781 while John Monckton’s practice was established in Maidstone in 1839, with six generations of the Monckton family working at the firm until Timothy Monckton's retirement in 2014.
Whitehead Monckton provides general corporate and personal legal services, as well as specialising in the healthcare and education, rural, property and leisure business sectors.
Over recent years, the company has seen significant growth, establishing its Canterbury office in 2013 and merging with Dockland Solicitors to gain its first foothold in London in 2016. In 2018, the company moved to new modern office premises in Maidstone.
The move to an EOT makes the company one of just a few law firms in the UK to have transitioned to this ownership model. Following the transaction, the firm’s current leadership will remain in place, but employees will have a stronger voice through an Employee Council, which will report to the company’s new Trust’s Board.
Whitehead Monckton Managing Director Christopher Longden said: "The directors have always regarded themselves as custodians of the business with each generation of business owners growing the business for the benefit of the next generation. The Employee Ownership Trust will keep our firm’s ownership, people and interests right here in the Kent community."
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